Salvage
by PenPatronus
Summary: Part 1: In this missing scene from "Captain America: Winter Soldier," Tony Stark goes looking for Steve after he fell out of the Helicarrier. Part 2: Missing scene from "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Steve goes looking for Tony. Part 3: At the Barton farm, Steve tells Laura something she already knows. Later, in Sokovia, he takes care of Clint. Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Family, Bromance.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** In this missing scene from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Tony Stark goes looking for Steve after he fell out of the Helicarrier. Bromance, Hurt / Comfort, featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Pepper, Bruce, Clint and Natasha.

**Salvage  
**PenPatronus

The full moon behind Tony Stark cast an Iron Man-shaped shadow on the Potomac River as he flew over the decimated Triskelion for the third time. "JARVIS, access the Coast Guard's search-and-rescue files from the past twelve hours. I want to know about every square foot they may have missed."

Suddenly an orange light flashed in the corner of Tony's eye. He answered the call with, "Hey, honey."

"Hi, sweetie," said Clint Barton's baritone voice. Tony opened the screen on the HUD and Barton's smirking face appeared. Pepper Potts stood behind him, her palm over her mouth, barely muffling her laughter.

Tony tried to look annoyed. "Legolas! How do you like the nest I built you?"

Clint scowled. "It's too comfortable."

"Pillows aren't firm enough?"

"I'm not used to _having_ a pillow." Barton glanced over his shoulder at Pepper, who raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh, listen, I need to discuss… something with you. It's, uh, important. And – and urgent."

Tony banked left to avoid a flock of geese. "I'm all ears."

"Come over and we'll talk. I was going to make some lasagna for me and Natasha and Pepper and we were hoping you'd join us."

"Kinda busy here, Barton."

Pepper elbowed Clint in the ribs. "You look tired, Tony," Clint said, his voice forced and robotic.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Pepper, stop feeding him lines."

Pepper's face replaced Barton's on the screen. "Tony, you haven't slept in 48 hours. You need to rest. You won't listen to me so I thought you might listen to him. Or take a bribe."

"Tempting me with lasagna?" Stark shook his head. "Diabolical, Pepper."

Suddenly the Black Widow appeared over Pepper's shoulder. "Tony, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised. And you're a pretty tempting target for Hydra when you're flying laps around D.C."

"Of course I'm a target. My dad was a target, Nick Fury was a target. We're all targets." JARVIS spotted movement on the east bank of the river and Tony dove lower for a closer look. It was just a piece of a Helicarrier bobbing in the water. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is in shambles and none of us know what to do next, but the one thing I _can_ do is find Rogers." Tony made eye contact with Pepper. "I'll come home as soon as I can."

Natasha leaned in closer. "When you find him," she said, and started typing something out of sight, "don't just take him to any hospital. We don't know who to trust, so I'm sending you coordinates for a medical facility up-state. Ask for Sam Wilson."

"Roger that."

Natasha stepped aside, leaving Pepper alone with Tony. "Be careful," Pepper said, and blew a kiss at the screen.

"Love you," Tony said.

"Love you too, honey!" Barton shouted from somewhere off-camera. Pepper chuckled. She gave Tony one last wave, then cut the connection.

Ten minutes of flying later, JARVIS spoke in Tony's ear. _Sir, I've triangulated an area that the Coast Guard search parties may have missed. There is only a 12% chance that—_

"Show me," Tony ordered. A map appeared in his helmet and Stark flew another hundred yards upstream. He landed on the edge of the river, knee-deep in water, and turned on his heat-seeking systems. While JARVIS scanned for signs of life, Tony marched along the bank looking for footprints but hoping for a red, white and blue shield.

Another beep. A green light this time. "Talk to me, Banner," Stark said.

Bruce's face appeared. "Hello to you, too, Tony. Busy?"

"Not really. Just on a desperate search for Captain America. What's up?"

Bruce's face scrunched into an apologetic look. "Pepper wants me to remind you that you haven't slept in 48 hours."

"_Dammit_," Tony spat. "My father searched for Captain America for years. I'm not going to give up on him after one night."

"You know we're not suggesting that you do." Bruce cleared his throat and softened his voice. "But after everything that happened… Listen, I'm going to catch the first flight to New York in the morning. Natasha thinks there's safety in numbers right now, and I agree."

"Good. I'll see you at the Tower."

"I – I don't want to intrude. I can get a hotel."

"I redecorated – added a few guest rooms – one door might happen to have your name on it… Does the Other Guy find fountains soothing? Because I installed a fountain."

Bruce laughed. "Do these guest rooms have anything to do with that extra-large letter "A" you installed last month?"

"It's the Stark Tower and "Tony" is short for "Anthony."

"You're saying that the giant 'A' is for 'Anthony.'"

The corner of Tony's mouth twitched into a smile. "That's what we told the press."

Bruce chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Good luck."

"Yeah."

Bruce hesitated. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sure Cap's alive."

"He is," Tony said in a tone of voice that invited zero argument. "He has to be."

Bruce nodded. "Be careful."

"You, too. Seriously, Bruce. Fury's dead. We can only trust Avengers right now."

Banner nodded. A second later his face disappeared.

"Stark…?"

Tony whirled around. Every nerve in his body and every wire in his suit went on high alert. "JARVIS," he barked, "did you hear that?"

_Triangulating, Sir_, the AI replied.

Impatient, Tony took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. "Rogers?" he called, then shouted at the top of his voice, "_Steve_!"

"Tony?" A figure peeked out from behind thick brush only ten yards away. It was Steve Rogers, extra pale in the moonlight, bleeding from a head wound and shivering. "Oh, good, it is you," Steve said, his words slurring. He swayed and crashed to the ground out of sight. Tony cursed and sprinted around the bushes to his side. He helped the captain sit up against a tree. "Romanoff… Hill… Sam Wilson… are they all right?" Tony frantically searched Steve for injuries and found more than he could count. "Hey." Cap swatted Tony's hands aside. "Answer me. Are they ok? Fury? Bucky – wait, what happened to Bucky?"

Tony only knew bits and pieces of Steve's adventures, all second-hand from Natasha. He barely recalled who Bucky was, and decided that it would be better for Cap to hear about Fury's death when he himself wasn't half-dead. "They're fine," he sputtered. "Everyone's fine. Everything's fine. Whole world's at peace, actually. It's a shame you missed the party. What were you doing hiding out here?"

Steve licked his lips and stared at Tony through half-lidded eyes. "I don't know… The last thing I remember was falling, then I woke up here."

"Maybe you have a guardian angel," Tony mocked.

Steve's head lolled to the side and Tony cupped his cheek before his jaw smashed against bark. "Maybe the Hulk caught me when I fell out of the Helicarrier like when you fell out of the wormhole."

"Sure," Tony said. "Big green Hulk angel with a halo. Can you stand?"

"Of course I can." Steve tucked his legs under him but only managed to wiggle himself back against the tree, but not actually up it.

Tony shook his head at the sight. "You're as stubborn as me. Come on." Tony put his helmet on and pulled Steve's arm across his shoulders. "God, you look like death. I'll get you to a hospital pronto, Cap."

"Th-Thanks." Steve combed his shaking hands through his dirty blond hair. "Thanks, Tony."

**The End**


	2. Chapter 2

**Salvage**

Part 2

**PenPatronus**

A brief list of the initial consequences of blowing up an artificial asteroid: earthquake-like aftershocks, rogue clouds of debris, a fried communications grid, and unpredictable weather. At four in the morning in the forest, Steve Rogers was primarily affected by the latter pair. After venturing from the Helicarrier ahead of the official rescue teams, Steve was cut off from all coms and left to deal with intense wind one moment followed by a downpour of rain the next. The water mixed with dust and dirt in the air, which turned it into mud by the time it hit Steve's nose. Any man in his right mind would retreat back to a cozy cabin in the Helicarrier, or at least get an umbrella, but Steve was operating by heart more than mind at the moment. After the day's near apocalyptic events everyone was accounted for except for Tony Stark. When Rhodes found Thor beached like a whale on the lakeshore, the demigod reported that Stark was intact when he last heard. The last thing any witness saw was the Iron Man suit weaving between falling buildings.

Maybe Stark was still intact, but his armor certainly wasn't. Steve was tracking various pieces of red and gold machinery through the woods like it was a breadcrumb trail. A hinge here, a sprocket there, half of a pinky finger twenty yards later barely visible in a blossoming mud puddle… Desperation tightened around Steve's heart like a noose when he found a two-by-four plate of armor slick with blood. "Stark!" he hollered at the deaf, dark forest with all of his super-soldier volume. "_Stark_! _**Tony**_!"

He knew he was getting closer to his missing teammate when there were more tree limbs on the ground than attached to trunks. The top of one pine was burning like a candle on a birthday cake. Steve started to run at that point. Considering the mud-rain and wind bearing down on the countryside there was no way that candle would still be burning if it wasn't doused with chemicals first. The suit was leaking, falling apart, possibly on fire and…

"There you are," Steve gasped when he spotted a crater fifty yards ahead. He broke into a sprint and reached the crash site in seconds. A long trench that gradually dug deeper into the dirt preceded a Hulk-sized hole where the armor finally came to a stop. What was left of it was vaguely man-shaped, still smoking slightly from the friction, and face down in the mud. Steve tossed his shield aside and leapt feet-first into the muddy crater. Kicking singed red and gold metals aside, wading ankle-deep through mud thick as gravy, Steve made it to the suit and flipped it over onto its back. Déjà vu itched in the back of his brain. Again he was leaning over Tony Stark's still body wondering _if he was alive oh please god I can't do this without_—

"St…Steve…"

Tony was dreaming. Steve could tell by way his lips twitched and his eyebrows danced. The few square feet of armor left on him did not include his helmet or faceplate. Mud and muck coated the black flight suit he sometimes wore beneath the armor. When Steve started wiping away mud, looking for skin, he found blood.

"Steve…" Tony whispered louder.

"Tony?" Rogers straightened in his kneeling position, hopeful that Stark was waking up.

"No," Tony mumbled. "No not you, not you…"

Cap gently tapped Tony's cheek. "Tony, wake up. I gotta get you out of here."

Tony started to thrash when Steve touched his swollen, possibly broken hands. "'s my fault," he muttered. "I'm sorry – Steve, I'm so sorry…" A gradual wince spread across Tony's features until he was all one big frown. The more he spoke the more his bottom lip drowned in blood. "_Sorry_…"

_Where's the Hulk when I need him_? Steve wondered. His eye twitched when he remembered exactly – well, not quite exactly – where Bruce was. There would be time to mourn later after Tony was literally out of the woods. "Sorry about this," Steve whispered, and then he smacked Tony so hard across the face that mud splashed in every direction. Tony woke up swinging. Eyes open but too wide, mouth moving but not speaking, body trembling more and more as he surveyed the destruction around him. Panicking – an actual panic attack?

"_Cap_!" Tony cried, his eyes looking everywhere but at Rogers.

Steve took his friend's face between his two large, calloused palms and forced their eyes to meet. "Tony, I'm right here – It's over – Tell me where you're hurt."

It took half a minute for Tony to get his bearings and focus on the man holding him. "Cap," he gasped, when the final puzzle pieces fell into place. Muddy, bloody hands poked at Steve's uniform, clawed at his skin and then, finally, his fingers landed on the pulse point in Steve's throat. "You're alive." He said it out loud twice as if trying to convince himself that it was true. "I was dreaming…"

"About what?" Steve whispered. He cupped Tony's cheek and rubbed the side of his thumb against his jawbone. "Tony, what is it?" Steve answered his own question then. Or rather, he interpreted the look on Tony's face and rephrased. "Are you ever going to tell me what the witch made you see?"

Tony was suddenly, terribly coherent. "You wanna know what I saw that made me do something stupid?" he quoted. "I saw _you_." Stark fought his way up into a sitting position. Steve let him, but didn't remove his hands from his shoulders. "I _felt_ you—" Tony started to say before his voice broke. A wet, shaky exhale followed a wet, shaky inhale, and Tony suddenly reached up and pulled their foreheads together. "Cold world. Bruce skewered. Clint, Natasha, Thor… they were all dead. And you took my hand, and you told me that I could've stopped it, I could've saved you all and then… I saw you die, Cap. _**I felt you die**_."

Steve let instinct rather than society's construct of "manliness" guide him. He wrapped his arms around Tony and pulled him into a deep, strong-but-gentle hug. "That's your worst nightmare?" he whispered in Tony's ear. "I'm sorry… If I saw you like that I – I'd do something drastic, too."

"I f-failed," Tony stammered. "It was my fault – _this_ is my fault. Every time I try to fix something I make it w-worse and you – you and the team – you'll all die and it will be my fault, my fault, my fault…"

Steve leaned back and wiped the mud away from one half of Tony's face and blood from the other. "I'm here. I'm all right, you're all right, the team is…" He hesitated.

Tony anxiety went up a notch. "Tell me they're ok." He swallowed audibly. "Steve, tell me our team is ok. Thor?"

"He took a hard hit but he's all right," Steve said quickly. "Just stunned. Pietro… Pietro was killed. He saved Clint. Thank God, he saved Clint."

"Clint is—"

"He's alive." Steve spoke slowly and clearly to make sure that Tony understood. "He got shot under the ribs but he'll make a full recovery. Romanoff, too. She took a hit in the hip but—"

"_Bruce_. Where is - I wanna see Bruce." Tony braced his arms against Steve's shoulders and pushed himself up onto wobbly feet. "Where's Banner?"

Steve rose with Tony and kept him steady. "Tony he's not – he's not here. He's alive!" he explained quickly when Tony looked so panicked it seemed inevitable that he would explode. "There's no reason to think he isn't alive."

"What happened?" Tony choked.

"He left. The Hulk got into the jet. He just kept flying. He left."

Tony swayed. "Why?" he asked himself out loud. Answering out loud he whispered, "My fault. Angry with me – doesn't trust me."

"Talk to Natasha. Talk to Natasha about it when we get home."

"He doesn't have to hide," Tony insisted. "I'll, I'll fix it. I'll make Veronica better, stronger. I'll make sure nobody is hurt every again – I swear! Steve, tell him _I'll fix it_!"

Tony's knees gave out, then, and Steve yanked his left arm across his shoulders and held him up. "Let's get you back to the Helicarrier." At the dazed, depressed look on Stark's face he said, "Give Banner some time. It's not like we'll never see him again. It'll be ok."

"My best friend just abandoned us," Tony muttered. "And how many civilians died today because of me? I have to fix it. I have to fix it all."

Steve had started to drag Tony away from the crater but he halted right then and looked into his friend's eyes. "Tony, listen to me. I need you to understand that you are not an "I" anymore. You're not alone. It's "we." It's "us." And I promise you, _we_ will do what we can fix it."

"Together?" Tony whispered, echoing the lesson he'd learned.

"That's right," Steve replied, "together."

Tony stared at him for a long moment, swallowed the air in his throat and whispered, "Just don't die, Steve. Look at me… Just the thought of it is killing me." That sentence burned the last of Tony's adrenaline away. His eyes disappeared back into his skull and he slumped against Steve's chest. Cap held him for a moment. He lifted his face up to the muddy rain and let the wind do its best to blow them over.

It didn't.

It couldn't.

It never would.

With a sigh, Steve gently situated Tony's unconscious body over his shoulder, scooped up his shield, and started marching home.

**The End**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: **Steve has a brief interaction with Laura Barton, and then takes care of Clint on the Helicarrier's lifeboat. Missing scenes from "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

**Salvage**

Part 3

**PenPatronus**

THE BARTON FARM

"Don't take from my pile," Tony Stark called as he marched towards the barn.

Laura Barton cocked her head to the side. "That sounds like something my son would say," she chuckled.

Steve snorted. "Tony Stark can be a child sometimes." He plunged his ax through another log.

"You know what I see?" Laura turned to watch Stark disappear through the door. "I see a man who is very afraid," she said. "People take risks when they're scared. Especially when they're afraid for the people they love."

Steve hesitated mid-swing. Startled blue eyes went to the barn. Muscles in his jaw and neck twitched. A minute passed before his attention returned to Laura. "Thank you again for letting us…visit," he said. "I hope we're not intruding too much."

"You've certainly earned your keep. You've already done more work than my kids and I can do in a weekend," Laura said, gesturing at all of the split wood. "I hope you don't feel obligated. Maybe you should rest? Clint said you guys have been through a lot."

Cap offered her a small smile. "This is just the therapy I need right now, Mrs. Barton."

"Laura," she corrected politely.

"Laura." Cap nodded at the farm. "If there's anything I can do while I'm here, please, let me know."

Laura studied him. "Captain Rogers—"

"Steve."

"Steve." Laura braided her fingers around her stomach. "Clint and Nat tell me about their adventures. Not everything—I know that I just hear the watered down versions. But I know that you've saved their lives a dozen times. You've already done more for me than you could ever know."

Steve shouldered the ax. "They've saved me. I don't…I've lost track of how many times they've saved me." Cap let the ax head fall to the ground. He braced both hands on the shaft and leaned into it. "I hope you know that Barton is a valued member of this team. Natasha likes to joke that we don't need him but the truth is…" Cap stared down at his boots. "It's an honor. Truly. He's a good man."

"If half of what Clint has told me about you is true…" Laura bit her bottom lip. "Maybe this is odd, but, can I give you a hug?"

Laura Barton didn't wait for an answer. She stepped forwards, wrapped her arms tight around Steve's midsection, pressed her cheek against his chest, and squeezed. He tensed and held his elbows up and out like he was trying to keep them above water. But then he relaxed, let the ax fall to the grass, and set his arms around her shoulders. "You, uh…" Steve cleared his throat. "You hug like a mother."

Laura took a step back and smiled up at him. "Sometimes even a super-soldier needs a mother's hug." Steve rubbed his arms and averted his gaze. Laura noticed that he denied nothing.

A high-pitched giggle from the porch. Clint was giving his daughter a piggyback ride. "Barton took a hit in the field last week," Steve suddenly remembered. "I'm…I'm sorry," he said to Laura. "It wrecks me when anyone on the team gets hurt. I hope you know how seriously I take their safety. I was in the next sector when—"

Laura held her palms up. The gesture stopped Steve's downhill motion and he took a deep breath. "It's all right," she assured him. "He's alive. That's what matters." Laura pivoted and watched as her husband wrestled with their son, who was banging his fists against his chest and growling like the Hulk. "Getting shot doesn't really faze him," she said quietly, hands back on her stomach. "Not after what Loki did to him. Nothing compares to that."

Steve folded his arms against his chest and wondered, "He's still healing from that, isn't he?"

"Clint only kills when he absolutely has to. Loki forced him to kill. To kill men and women he went to the academy with, went on missions with…Forced him to kill his friends." Laura's nostrils flared. "Phil died. And then S.H.I.E.L.D. fell. Clint found out that some of his oldest friends were Hydra…" Laura shook her head. Water hovered in her eyes when she said, "I'm just so very grateful that he has this team, Steve. I don't know what he would do if he didn't have the Avengers."

As Steve watched Clint play with his children, an emotion he couldn't define caused pressure in his chest. "We're the ones who are lucky to have him. He sees things that the rest of us don't. We have all of this technology at our disposal but nobody can read a situation like he can." Steve shook his head. "We might have some rough days coming, Laura, but I promise—I SWEAR—I swear I'll keep him safe."

Laura gave him a patient smile. She reached out, and he marveled at how petite and warm her hand was in his. "You'll try," she said softly, and Steve sensed a deep, almost debilitating sadness in her. He opened his mouth to promise her again, to promise MORE, maybe to insist that Clint stay on the sidelines, but she squeezed his hand, summoned a confident smile and said, "I just made a pitcher of lemonade. Squeezed the lemons myself."

Cap perked up. "I haven't had lemonade since I was a kid."

Laura chuckled. "You haven't had lemonade in eighty years?" She motioned for him to follow her into the farmhouse. "Come on."

* * *

SOKOVIA

Déjà vu, Steve thought.

The last time the world was ending, he was on the ground looking up at an explosion that probably took out Tony Stark. This time he was in the air looking down from the lifeboat as Sokovia detonated. He scanned the sky for any sign of Thor's red cape or Iron Man's armor, but there was too much debris to see anything clearly. Cap tapped his earpiece but heard nothing but static. "Stark, report!" he barked. "Thor, come in!" A minute went by. Another followed it. He tried again. "Tony…?"

Movement in his peripherals. The Vision landed on the deck with Wanda Maximoff in his arms. "My brother?" she squeaked. Cap started to give her the bad news but she shook her head—she already knew. "Where is he?" Steve pointed, and Wanda rushed to her brother's body, knelt on the deck, and wept into his hair.

Cap turned to the Vision. "T-the rest of my t-team," he stuttered. Fear trickled down his spine like icy water. "I didn't see if they made it…Natasha? B-Banner?"

"I will look for them," Vision promised. "After I make sure that none of Ultron's soldiers survived."

"Yeah. Right. Good." Steve wiped his sweaty brow with a dirty forearm. "Thank you." Vision flew off. A shadow fell over the lifeboat as the ship neared the Helicarrier. They were almost home.

Wanda's sobs caught his attention. Steve jogged over to her. He briefly considered putting a hand on her shoulder or offering some platitude he knew she probably wouldn't want to hear. That was when he saw the blood. A pool was forming on Pietro's left, but Cap knew that it couldn't be coming from him—not if his heart wasn't pumping.

Dread hit Cap like the Hulk's fist. The blood was dripping from the bench above Pietro's body. From Clint.

"SHIT."

Steve leapt over Pietro and knelt beside the bench. One of Ultron's blasts from the Quinjet nicked the right side of Clint's torso. It was the same spot—the exact same damn place that laser hit Barton in the woods less than a week before.

Steve shook his teammate's shoulders. "Clint? Barton!"

Barton started awake. Dazed eyes blinked too slowly. "Cap?" Clint squinted at him. "What happened? What's…Where's…The city. What happened to the city?" he slurred.

Steve looked around for a medic. "Stark blew it up," he said. "It's over. We won."

"Oh." Clint frowned. He rubbed his eyes, which just added to the grime in them. "But what about…What happened to the city?"

Steve froze. He heard the ragged edges in Clint's breaths. His skin was almost as pale as Pietro's. "Barton, stay with me."

"Think I might be bleeding…" Clint's entire body deflated. Although his irises were aimed at Cap, he seemed to be looking at something far, far away.

"Here." Something bumped Steve's shoulder. Wanda rolled up her coat and handed it to him.

Cap nodded his thanks and pressed the fabric against Barton's wound. "Stay awake, Clint," Steve ordered. His voice squeaked like a pubescent boy's. "Barton, look at me—look at me!"

Clint tried to obey. He could only keep one eye open at a time, and only halfway. "Tired…" he confessed.

The lifeboat hovered into the Helicarrier's cargo bay. Survivors started to move. Motion and bodies blocked the medics from seeing Cap's waving arm. Fear threatened to overwhelm Steve completely. Where was Natasha? Where was Bruce? He didn't know if Tony and Thor survived. Stark said that they might not walk away…And Barton was bleeding to death. Bleeding to death right in front of him. Laura's sad face popped into his mind.

"Dammit!" Steve smacked Barton's cheek twice. "Clint, I promised your wife that I'd keep you safe. I promised you'd be ok—I promised! Stay awake, Barton. Stay awake for Laura."

Heavy eyelids drifted shut. Clint's lips parted, stilled.

Water overflowed from Cap's eyes. His voice broke in half. "**CLINT**!"

"I'm here." Words made of barely more than breath, but they were there. "I'm here, Cap," Clint whispered. One corner of his mouth twitched in an almost-smile. "You'll keep your promise…I promise."

**The End**


End file.
